2023 Resident Award Recipient

Dr. Theunis van Zyl

The Ontario’s Anesthesiologists Resident Award is an opportunity to recognize anesthesia residents in Ontario for their leadership, professionalism, collaboration and integrity as an anesthesia resident.  

The inaugural edition of this award has been awarded to Dr. Theunis van Zyl, a PGY5 Resident in the Department of Anesthesiology at Queen’s University.

While Dr. van Zyl has been recognized by his peers as encompassing all aspects of this award, he has shone exceptionally bright in the areas of teaching and research where he has demonstrated significant commitment to and passion for educational innovation and medical education.

He is also a respected leader in his program and has a proven track record of identifying areas for potential improvement and then driving significant positive change in these areas.

Notably, Dr. van Zyl has recently been a lead investigator in a quality improvement project for the management of rib fracture patients that included developing a standardized care pathway for rib fractures based on best practices. He then implemented educational sessions for the physicians and nurses who were caring for these complicated patients, with fantastic uptake and results. Dr. van Zyl’s program and its resulting data were so impressive that he was asked to present his findings at the prestigious International Association for the Study of Pain conference in 2022.

Dr. van Zyl has also been heavily involved in ultrasound education. He worked with the ultrasound leads to redesign the resident ultrasound curriculum, provided weekly one-on-one bedside ultrasound teaching sessions to first-year residents, and acted as co-lead investigator for an innovation research project developing a new ultrasound education platform. This developed-at-Kingston Health Sciences Centre program will allow for teaching ultrasound-guided procedures to learners in low- and middle-income countries.

Additionally, Dr. van Zyl has advocated for residents at both the program and university levels. He served as a representative on PARO for many years, during which he lobbied to improve access to computers in call rooms for all residents and obtained a grant to renovate the resident lounge in the hospital.

Within his residency program, Dr. van Zyl actively teaches junior residents through ultrasound sessions, buddy call, and leading case management rounds. Through these roles, he has established himself as a physician whose kindness, patience, and high level of medical expertise are highly valued by our learners.